Welcome to the AC Tropical Fish aquarium forum. Our aquarium forum is the place to discuss any aquarium related issue in a friendly environment. Our aquarium forum welcomes aquarists of all levels from beginners to experts. Please ask a question in the how to section of our forum or read the FAQ section if you have any questions. register to and become a part of our friendly aquarium forum community today.

Question about current fishless cycle.

i will give more details of the tank setup per each reply if needed. I will ask my question at the end of the post.

All I know is what they text me. They are following my instruction and are doing a fishless cycling with fish flake food. They test with a new API liquid test kit. Only seen the tank 3x since its been cycling for about a month.

Day 1- setup tank and plug everything in by me.
Day 2- added fake plant, saw temps were in the low 90's so lowered temps and added fish flake food to start cycle by me.
Day 5- they tested ammonia at 1ppm. Told to add more food.
Day 9- instructed to do a ammonia test. Never got reply with results.
Day 11-they tested ammonia. Maybe 2ppm maybe more maybe less. Told to add a little more food.
Day 15- they tested Ammonia and Nitrite. Ammonia 4ppm Nitrite 1-2ppm. No food added.
Day 21- don't know if test was done between this one and last one since I don't have a text. Ammonia 0.25 and Nitrite 5.0. Told to add more food.
Day 24-text of results Ammonia 0 Nitrite 5.0. Instructed to add double amount of food.
Day 26- text of results Ammonia 0 Nitrite 5.0. Told to add normal amount of food.

Now here is my question. This what I'm going to tell them to do next. 1-test Tap water for Nitrite since Tank Nitrite is 5.0
2- test tank for Ammonia and Nitrite and this time for Nitrate.
How does this sound? Plus if tap water does not have Nitrite should I tell them to do a 40% water change since Nitrite is 5.0 in the tank?

Is it possible to find some ammonia? The problem with food is the wait time for it to rot makes it difficult to regulate. If they can't get any janitor type ammonia (no soaps or fragrance) then add a small amount of food to keep the bacteria fed. This is a small tank, so you don't need a huge amount.
Actually, in this case, I would go ahead and do a water change before adding more food. The nitrites are so high it will be difficult to monitor. Change enough water to bring the trites down under 5ppm so we can see if they are rising. Keep a close eye on the nitrites, if they keep going up, we know the ammonia converting bacteria is present and we will be able to give better advice on how to proceed.

When I go fishing I just throw sharp rocks in the water and wait for the dead fish to float to the top... KingfisherEverything happens for a reason. Sometimes that reason is you are stupid and make bad decisions. I think my fish is adjusting well to the four gallon, He's laying on his side attempting to go to sleep on the bottom of the gravel.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Dear naps, sorry I hated you so much when I was a child... Love me